Method of printing on flimsy material



- Oct. 21, 1941. w, R L 2,259,952

METHOD OF PRINTING ON FLIMSY MATERIAL Filed Jan. 16, 1939 v INVENTOR. VM'LLfA/VE FARRELL ATTORNEY .3.

impressions.

Patented Oct. 21, 1941 METHOD or PRINTING ONFLIMSY MATERIAL V I William B. Farrell, Wayne, Mich. Application January 16, 1939, Serial No. 251,083

3 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved process for printing single or multiple color'impressions upon silk, satin, or other thin, flexible, flimsy materials. An object is to print multiple colored designs on thin flimsy material with accurate registration of the different color designs. A feature of importance is that the process is designed to accomplish printing with dye or ink in one or more colors on a flimsy sheet of material with a conventional printing press, and in sucha manner as to obtain accurate registration and sharp clear-cut outline of design. One primary use for'this process is in the printing of display banners, advertising signs, and the like, upon flimsy fabrics such as silk, satin, or rayon, the displays being printed upon the fabric in single or multiple colors. A desirable feature of the invention is the possibility of die cutting such banners to form intricate designs which register accurately with any colored design printed on the material.

A characteristic of my improved process is that though the dye is forced into and through the sheet of material, the printing is accomplished without smudging the dye on the re verse side of the sheet. Furthermore, the process is so carried, out that the backing On the impression cylinder of the printing press is not fouled with the dye, and therefore the printing operations may be carried forward rapidly and accurately. An additional feature of the process is the ability to dye color the entire area of such a. sheet of flimsy material including the marginal portions thereof, thus preventing the waste of material and steps for removing the same.

Heretofore, display banners of silk, satin, or other flimsy material havebeen printed through the use of stencils or the use of other laborious processes. I propose to print them through the useof a conventional printing press such as a. cylinder press. I propose to use a thin dye or ink which will quickly impregnate the material.

,This process is intended primarily for the use of printing designs in multiple color by multiple It is adapted particularly for the printing of relatively large designs such as would appear on display banners rather than the printing with dye of relatively small figures such as appear on dress fabrics or the like. For this reason, the printing is on separate sheets rather than printing from a continuous roll.

It is not feasible to print rapidly multiple color fim'pres'sions by means of a' printing press upon flimsy material such as satin and obtain accurate color registration if the flimsy sheet to be printed is put through the press in the same way that a sheet of paper is'printed. The flimsy and stretchable nature of the sheet printed upon prevents obtaining accuracy of color registration in multiple impressions. My improved process includes the mounting of the flimsy sheet to be printed upon a relatively stiff but flexible backing sheet, making a multi-ply assembly sheet, which multii'ply sheet is put through the press one or more times and which multi-ply sheet is of such acharacter as to insure accuracy of registration of design,

Other objects, advantages, and meritorious featuresof my improved process will more fully appear from the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawing, wherein the single figure illustrates a display banner or the like mounted upon its flexible supporting backing sheet which permits the carrying out of my improved process and with a portion ofthe banner fabric turned back at one corner.

I take a sheet Ill of relatively extensible flimsy material such as satin, which sheet may be rather large, such as '4 x 6 feet. I mount this sheet upon a flexible comparatively stiff backing sheet of paper board l2. The sheet Ill has a margin 14 whichis adhesively secured to the backing sheet l2. It is highly desirable that the backing sheet 1 2 "be overlarge the sheet of flimsy material on all sides. This is especially true if it is desired to dye color theentire area of the flimsy sheet material, including the marginal portions thereof. Thus as shown in the drawing the backing sheet projects beyond the flimsy sheet material I0 on all sides thereof. The projecting portions of the backing sheet also serve to guide theflimsy sheet material during all operating steps as will be pointed out more particularly The marginal edges of the flimsy sheet material, Ill are preferably secured by adhesive material to the backing sheet l2. Other forms of securement such as staples and stitching are suitable but when the marginal portion's of the flimsy sheet are printed upon as above mentioned it is preferred to use a thin layer of compressible adhesive material which 'will allow the printing of the type desired should be thin and yieldable to the pressure of the printing operation. It should also be of a form which will not discolor the fabric or attack the dye or ink used in the printing. Adhesive securementof this character will allow dye color and inking impressions to be made over the marginal portions of the flimsy sheet material as well as in the central portion thereof thus saving steps which would otherwise be required to, remove the unprinted marginal portions.

The multi-ply assembly sheet formed by the backing l2 and the flimsy sheet l0 may be put through the press the required number of times to receive the required number of color impressions. The sheet 10 is held by the relatively strong and stiff backing so that the several impressions will be accurately brought into registration. The flexibility of the backing permits the multi-ply assembly sheet to conform to the curvature of the impression cylinder of the press during printing. The sheet I0 is held by the backing so that it may run through the press rapidly and so that it will not crease or fold or stretch unduly. It is so held that successive color impressions are accurately registered thereon.

The backing sheet is relatively absorbent of the printing dye so that the dye is drawn into the sheet l0 rapidly, and such dye as passes entirely through such sheet In is taken up by the backing sheet l2. Sheet I2 is relatively absorbent of the dye for the purpose of taking up any excessive dye that may pass through the sheet l0 and for the purpose of facilitating the drawing of the dye through the sheet l0, thereby preventing smudging of the dye on the reverse side of the sheet H], which smudges might produce undesirable color marks visible upon the front face of the shet Ill.

The backing sheet I2 serves to accurately guide the flimsy material during the several printing impressions it receives. The relatively stiff projecting edges provided by the backing sheet cooperate with guides customarily employed on printing presses and each multi-ply assembly sheet is thus automatically aligned for each printing operation it receives. Since the stiff projecting edges of the backing sheet maintain their relationship to the flimsy material throughout the several printing steps, the printing plates accureach time the assembly sheet is fed therethrough and automatically position the flimsy sheet material in the same position for each color printing operation.

If it is desired to cut out portions of the flimsy material along given outlines, the two-ply sheet can be fed into a die cutting apparatus having guides or stops similar to that on the printing press which engage the stiff edges of the backing sheet and align the sheet of flimsy material for die cutting operations along the lines proposed.

The die cutting operation is preferably of such a kind that it cuts or punches through both the flimsy sheet and the backing sheet. It may be performed either before or after the sheet is dye colored in the printing press.

Following the printing, the multi-ply assembly sheets are stacked and allowed to dry before the backing sheets are removed. The backing sheets l2 act as separator sheets between successive printed sheets I0 preventing smudges thereof while stacked. After the sheets have completely dried, the sheets in are removed and mounted as desired for use. 7

In the drawing, a backing sheet I 2 is shown with a flimsy sheet Ill adhesively secured thereto along its margin I4. The sheet ID is illustrated as turned back one corner to show the assembly structure, It is understood that the lettering in whatever design is printed on the sheet l0 will preferably be imprinted thereon in a plurality of colors. Three or more colors may be in the printing. It will be noted that the dye has passed entirely through the sheet In and is taken up by the backing sheet l2 as at l6.

After the dye material has dried on the flimsy material it may be removed from the backing sheet 12. It may be desirable to provide a metal reinforcement such as a bent-over tin strip along one or several edges of the flimsy material. In that case, it is preferred to add the metal reinforcement to the assembly sheet before the two plies of the sheet are separated. The margin of the backing sheet, however, is first made coextensive withthe sheet of flimsy material by removing the projecting portion of the backing on the side to which the strip is to be added. The tin strip, if such is used, is then rolled over this edge and secured to the sheet assembly in any suitable way, Then the backing is removed up to the tin strip leaving the balance under the strip to serve as a gripping medium between the strip and the flimsy fabric material In.

' What I claim is:

1. That process of providing intricate designs on' thin flimsy sheet material of woven fabric which comprises the steps of securing such a sheet to a backing sheet of flexible relatively stiff material with marginal portions of the latter projecting beyond the flimsy sheet, printing upon the exposed surface of the flimsy sheet material the required number of impressions while such sheet is held secured to the backing sheet, subjecting the two-ply flimsy sheet and backing sheet to die stamping operations which cut out portions in both sheets, and utilizing the marginal portions of the relatively stiff backing sheet to guide the flimsy sheet for accurate registrations of the printing and die cutting operations performed thereon.

2. That process of dye color printing upon a thin flimsy sheet of woven fabric which comprises the steps of arranging such flimsy sheet upon a flexible, relatively stiff backing sheet with margins of the latter projecting beyond the flimsy sheet, securing the marginal portions of the flimsy sheet to the backing sheet by thin compressible layer of adhesive material neutral to the dye coloring substances, and dye color printing upon the entire area of the exposed surface of the flimsy sheet including the adhesively secured marginal portions thereof.

3. That process of dye color printing upon thin flimsy sheets of woven fabric which comprises the steps of arranging each sheet of such flimsy material upon a comparatively stiff but flexible backing paper sheet with marginal portions of the latter projecting beyond the edges of the flimsy sheet, utilizing an adhesivematerial neutral to the dye or dyes to be used in the printing operation and relatively compressible under pressure to secure the marginal portions of said flying sheet upon the backing sheet, and passing said two-ply sheet assemblies through a printing press one or more times to print with dye color upon the exposed surface of the flimsy sheet including the adhesively secured marginal portions thereof, and utilizing the projecting marginal portions of said relatively stiff backing sheet to guide the flimsy sheet for accurate registrations of successive printing operations thereon.

WILLIAM B. FARRELL. 

